Gods and goddesses were central to ancient Egyptian beliefs about both life and an afterlife. The Egyptians worshiped many gods and goddesses, associating some with creation, rebirth, and natural phenomena, and worshiping others as personifications of concepts or for their connections to specific places. The names of gods and goddesses whose images appear in the Brooklyn Museum of Art’s Egyptian galleries are given here with simple definitions. The Greek language was widely used in ancient Egypt during the Macedonian and Ptolemaic periods (332–30 B.C.), and both ancient Egyptian and Greek versions of the names of many gods and goddesses exist. Here, the names listed first match those used in the Brooklyn Museum of Art’s gallery labels. Greek names are followed by their ancient Egyptian versions in parentheses. Scroll down or select an underlined letter to look for the name of a specific god or goddess. The illustrations are of objects in the Brooklyn Museum of Art’s collection.         A               Aha One of a special class of Egyptian deities believed to protect mothers and very young children. Aha’s name means “The Fighter” and he is represented as a lion-man. Two other such deities are Bes and Hayet.             Amun or Amun-Re A deity of multiple aspects, Amun was sometimes shown as a ram or goose, but was most often anthropomorphic (human-shaped). The name Amun means “The Hidden One” and was first mentioned in the Pyramid Texts in Dynasty 5 (circa 2500–2350 B.C.). Fundamentally a Creator god, Amun was worshiped as a local deity at Thebes in Upper Egypt during Dynasty 11 (circa 2081–1938 B.C.). By the Middle Kingdom (circa 2008–1630 B.C.), he was called “the king of the gods” and as Thebes rose to power in the New Kingdom (circa 1539–1075 B.C.), he was worshiped throughout Egypt and Nubia. Amun was freqently associated with other deities, most importantly the sun god, Re. As Amun-Re, he may have represented both the invisible power beyond creation and the creative power visible in heat and light.               Back to Top     Anubis (Inpu) Anubis—usually represented as a black canine or a human with a canine head—was believed to be a guardian of mummies, tombs and cemeteries, the divine embalmer, and an escort of the deceased in the netherworld.               Back to Top     Anukis (Anuket) Egyptians associated Anukis, or The “Lady of Sehel,” with the area of the first cataract (steep rapids) of the Nile River at Aswan. She was usually shown as a woman with a tall, feathered crown. Anukis could form part of a triad with the deities Khnum and Satis, probably considered her parents.               Back to Top       Apis Considered a theriomorphic (animal-shaped) manifestation of the god Ptah and an intermediary for him, Apis could take the form of a single living bull identified by specific body markings. Once recognized, the Apis bull was housed in a temple during life and mummified after death.               Back to Top     Aten The Aten referred to both the disk of the sun and the form of the solar god as manifested in the sun disk. King Akhenaten (circa 1352–1336 B.C.) elevated the cult of the Aten within the Egyptian pantheon by closing the temples of other traditional gods and restricting worship to the Aten and the royal family. The Aten was represented as a solar disk with human-handed rays.               Back to Top     Atum In one of the oldest and most important ancient Egyptian creation myths, the Creator god Atum arose in a mound of earth from the primeval waters of chaos (Nun) and brought forth the gods Shu (air), Tefnut (moisture), Geb (earth), and Nut (sky). Atum was shown in the form of a man, a ram-headed man, or as a combination of an eel and a cobra.                     B       Back to Top     Bastet The goddess Bastet was represented as a woman with the head of a lioness as early as Dynasty 2 (circa 2800–2675 B.C.) and by the beginning of Dynasty 22 (circa 945–712 B.C.) was also shown as a cat. The cat form represented the contented goddess, while the lioness form represented Bastet enraged or potentially dangerous.               Back to Top     Bes The Egyptians believed that Bes assisted women during pregnancy and birth and safeguarded newborns. Originally shown as a lion-man, by mid-Dynasty 18 (circa 1539–1292 B.C.) Bes had a snarling lion’s head and a dwarf’s body.                     G       Back to Top       Geb In Egyptian mythology, the earth god Geb and his sister-wife, the sky goddess Nut, were the children of Shu and Tefnut. After creation, Geb and Nut joined in sexual union, but Atum separated earth from sky by placing the air god Shu between them. Geb is often shown in human form.                     H       Back to Top     Harpocrates (Horpakhered or “Horus the Child”) An aspect of the god Horus in the form of a divine child.               Back to Top     Hathor The “mistress of joy, dance, and music,” Hathor embodied the sexual excitement necessary to maintain creation and the ongoing cycle of generation-decay-regeneration. A protective “mother” and nourisher of the gods and humanity, she was also a funerary deity associated with rebirth. Shown as a cow with the sun disk between her horns, she represented fertility and heaven, but she was also associated with the Eye of Re, protecting Egypt and the universal order, or Ma‘at.               Back to Top       Hayet One of a special class of Egyptian deities believed to protect mothers and very young children. Two other such deities were Bes and Aha. Like these deities, Hayet was shown with a combination of human and leonine characteristics.               Back to Top       Heh Heh was the Egyptian word for “million.” As a god, Heh was frequently shown kneeling and grasping hieroglyphic signs for millions of years.               Back to Top     Heket Paired with the god Khnum, Heket was believed to assist at human and divine births. She was represented either as a frog or a woman with a frog’s head.               Back to Top     Heqa Heqa—the Egyptian word for magic—was also the name given to a concept of divine creative energy or order. In some versions of the creation myth, the god Heqa begets the other gods. Images of Heqa often appeared with the goddess Ma‘at.               Back to Top     Horus (Her or Herew) Horus was most often depicted as a falcon or a falcon-headed man. The cults of several gods named Horus—which means “The Distant One” or “He Who is on High”—became intertwined over time. As Re-Horakhty (“Re-Horus-of-the-Two-Horizons”) he was the sun; as a divine child he was Harpocrates or Horpakhered (“Horus the Child”), representing royal and divine renewal. Son of the god Osiris and the goddess Isis, Horus avenged his father’s murder by Seth, symbolizing the triumph of legitimate rule and of order over disorder.                     I       Back to Top     Imhotep Unlike the other figures listed here, Imhotep was an actual man who served as advisor to the king during Dynasty 3 (circa 2675–2625 B.C.) and was probably the architect of King Djoser’s Step Pyramid. After his death Imhotep was venerated as a man of great learning and wisdom, and by the Late Period he was worshiped as a god with special healing powers. The divine Imhotep is shown dressed as an official, often holding a papyrus scroll.               Back to Top     Isis (Aset) In Egyptian mythology, Isis magically restored her brother-husband Osiris to life after he was murdered by their brother Seth. She was thus seen as a deity with great powers; one of her epithets is “Isis Great of Magic” (Weret-Hekau). The model loyal wife and protective mother, Isis was normally represented in human form, sometimes crowned with the “throne” hieroglyph that is also a writing of her name.               Back to Top     Iunyt Iunyt, whose name means “She-of-Armant,” was one of two consorts of Montu, a god associated with war. Iunyt first appeared in royal reliefs of Dynasty 11 (circa 2081–1938 B.C.), shown there in human form.                     K       Back to Top       Khentyimentiu (“Foremost of the Westerners”) A local necropolis god at the site of Abydos in the early dynasties, later eclipsed by Osiris as the Lord of the Dead.               Back to Top       Khepri The god Khepri, or “He who comes into being,” was associated with the rising sun and most commonly depicted as a winged beetle with a sun disk or as a scarab-headed man.               Back to Top       Khnum Seen as a Creator god who fashioned humans on a potter’s wheel, and as the guardian of the source of the Nile. Khnum was represented both as a ram and a ram-headed man.               Back to Top     Khonsu At the city of Thebes, Khonsu was considered the child of the god Amun and the goddess Mut. A lunar deity, Khonsu was shown with a falcon or human head and crowned with a crescent moon. He was frequently depicted in juvenile form (“Khonsu-the-Child”), often wearing a tightly wrapped robe symbolizing the potential for life—perhaps this referred to the moon’s cycle of generation-decay-regeneration.                     M       Back to Top     Ma‘at Ma‘at represented the proper interaction among all inhabitants of the universe, mortal and divine; the basis of the Egyptian social order; and the right order of things in heaven, on earth, and in the afterlife. Ma‘at was considered necessary to the preservation of the universe from the chaos that surrounded it. The word ma‘at was written with a feather hieroglyph. Ma‘at personified as a goddess was often depicted with a feather atop her head.               Back to Top       Mafdet The goddess Mafdet was associated with justice and protection and was identified with a tool of execution—a blade on a pole. Represented as a panther inhabiting the sky, Mafdet could also function as a protector of the sun god, Re.               Back to Top       Mahes A local god associated with lions who was worshiped in Tell el Muqdam (ancient Leontopolis), a site in the Egyptian Delta.               Back to Top     Meret Shemau (Meret of the Southern Lands) A group of goddesses named Meret were depicted as divine songstresses protecting and bringing power to religious rituals. There were northern and southern Merets.               Back to Top     Meretseger Meretseger, or “She Who Loves Silence,” was a local goddess of the necropolis on the west bank of the city of Thebes. She was usually represented as a snake or, sometimes, as a human-headed scorpion.               Back to Top       Min Min, a god of fertility, was represented as a mummiform human figure with an erect phallus.               Back to Top       Montu Montu, a god associated with war who was worshiped in the city of Thebes, was the royal deity of the rulers of early Dynasty 11 (circa 2081–2008 B.C.). He was usually represented with a falcon’s head.               Back to Top     Mut In the New Kingdom (circa 1539–1075 B.C.) and later, Mut and Sakhmet were so closely associated that they were eventually viewed as the same goddess. Mut (“mother”) was usually shown in human form wearing the Double Crown of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, symbolizing her role as protector and conveyor of kingship. She was seen as the divine mother of kings and of the god Khonsu. Sakhmet (“The Powerful One”) represented the more violent or fierce aspect of the goddess. Usually depicted in the form of a lion or with the head of a lioness, she was seen as the protectress of Egypt, of the king, and of Ma‘at, who could destroy what she was meant to protect unless kept pacified. Mut was one of the female consorts of the god Amun, and Sakhmet was one of the female consorts of the god Ptah.                     N       Back to Top       Neferhotep Neferhotep symbolized the perpetuity of kingship. He was usually depicted with a rounded wig beneath the Double Crown of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt.               Back to Top     Nefertem Sometimes considered the child of Ptah and Sakhmet by ancient Egyptians in the city of Memphis. According to some ancient Egyptian creation myths, Nefertem was associated with the lotus, a symbol of birth and rebirth on which the Creator solar deity first appeared in the Nun, the formless ocean within which the universe was created. Nefertem was also considered a defender of Ma‘at, the universal order. He was usually depicted in human form.               Back to Top     Neith Seen as the divine protectress of the Red Crown of Lower, or northern, Egypt, Neith was most often depicted anthropomorphically (as a human) and wearing this crown. She was one of the few goddesses who came to be considered a Creator deity.               Back to Top       Nekhbet Nekhbet was seen as the protective goddess of the White Crown of Upper, or southern, Egypt. She was often shown as a vulture wearing the White Crown. See also Wadjet.               Back to Top     Nephthys (Nebet-hwt) In Egyptian myth, Nephthys helped her sister Isis magically restore their murdered brother Osiris to life. Nephthys was most commonly depicted as a woman wearing the hieroglyphs for her Egyptian name, neb[t] hwt (“Possessor of the Mansion”) atop her head.               Back to Top       Nut The Egyptians believed that the goddess Nut was the sky and the milky way and that she swallowed the sun at sunset. After passing through her body during the twelve hours of night, the sun was reborn from her at dawn. Nut was frequently depicted as a woman arching her body over earth (Geb), with her toes touching the eastern horizon and her arms hanging down to where the sun sets in the west.                     O       Back to Top       Onuris (Anhur or Inheret) A primordial creator god and the chief deity of the region called This in Upper Egypt, Onuris was associated with both the hunt and the Libyan desert.               Back to Top     Osiris (Wsir) Osiris was believed to have ruled Egypt as a benevolent king. According to Egyptian myth, he was murdered by his brother Seth and magically restored to life by his sister-wife Isis, assisted by their sister Nephthys. Because he had died he could no longer rule on earth, and so became the Lord of the Dead, ruling in the netherworld. All kings were believed to become Osiris after they died. He was often depicted wrapped in mummy bandages, holding a flail—based on a fly-whisk—and a crook, which was the hieroglyphic sign for heka, meaning ruler or scepter.                     P       Back to Top     Ptah An early and chief god of the northern capital of Memphis, Ptah was seen as a divine artist-craftsman. He was a Creator god and, according to different traditions, either fashioned man or created things by speaking their names. He was usually shown in human form, but the sacred Apis bull of the city of Memphis also came to be viewed as a representation of him.               Back to Top     Ptah-Sokar A composite deity associated with the principle of growth and thus also with burial rites and the afterlife, often shown with a falcon’s head.               Back to Top       Ptah-Sokar-Osiris A composite mortuary deity of the Late Period (664–332 B.C.), combining the characteristics of Ptah, Sokar, and Osiris. This god was shown as a mummiform figure like Osiris and is crowned by tall plumes.                     R       Back to Top     Re A solar and universal deity, Re was a primeval Creator often identified as the lord and father of Ma‘at. The gods Khepri, identified with the rising sun, and Atum, sometimes equated with the setting sun, were joined with Re to represent the daily cycle of creation-degeneration-re-creation. Because the sun was so important as a source of light and life to the Egyptians, they associated many gods with it by linking them to Re.               Back to Top     Re-Horakhty An aspect of the god Horus in the form of the sun.               Back to Top       Renenutet A goddess of harvest and nourishment usually depicted in the form of a snake. Her name was made up of the words for “nourishment” (renen) and “snake (wtet).                     S       Back to Top     Sakhmet In the New Kingdom (circa 1539–1075 B.C.) and later, Mut and Sakhmet were so closely associated that they were eventually viewed as the same goddess. Sakhmet (“The Powerful One”) represented the more violent or fierce aspect of the goddess. Usually depicted in the form of a lion or with the head of a lioness, she was seen as the protectress of Egypt, of the king, and of Ma‘at, who could destroy what she was meant to protect unless kept pacified. Mut (“mother”) was usually shown in human form wearing the Double Crown of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, symbolizing her role as protector and conveyor of kingship. She was seen as the divine mother of kings and of the god Khonsu. Sakhmet was one of the female consorts of the god Ptah, and Mut was one of the female consorts of the god Amun.               Back to Top     Satis (Satet) Known as the “Lady of Elephantine,” the goddess Satis was seen as a wife of the god Khnum. She was generally depicted in human form with a horned White Crown of Upper Egypt.               Back to Top       Semset A deity associated with the twelfth month of the year and one of several goddesses associated with birth. Semset was usually depicted in the form of a hippo, but could also be shown as a human.               Back to Top     Seshat A goddess associated with writing, record keeping, and measurement, represented in human form.               Back to Top       Seth (Set) According to Egyptian myth, Seth murdered his brother Osiris and seized the Egyptian throne. He was later defeated by Horus, son of Osiris and Isis, and banished from the civilized world. Seth was depicted as a mysterious animal with the characteristics of several species.               Back to Top     Shu Shu and his sister-wife Tefnut were believed to be the first two deities fashioned by the Creator god Atum. The Egyptians associated Shu with light, air, and life. He was often shown in human form with upraised arms separating earth (Geb) from sky (Nut).               Back to Top     Sobek Sobek was depicted as a crocodile, a falcon-headed crocodile crowned with two plumes and a sun disk, or a crocodile-headed man. Also called Sobek-Re, this god was associated with the Nile and its annual flood.               Back to Top       Sokar (Seker, Sokaris) The god of the necropolis at Memphis, Sokar was represented as a divine falcon or a falcon-headed man.               Back to Top     Sons of Horus Four deities were believed to serve as guardians of the internal organs removed during mummification. Their images appeared on amulets placed on the mummy or as lids for the four canopic jars containing the internal organs. The human-headed Imsety protected the liver; Duamutef, shown with a dog or jackal head, safeguarded the stomach; Hapy, in the form of an ape, was responsible for the lungs; and Qebehsenuef, who appeared as a falcon, guarded the intestines.                     T       Back to Top       Tatenen An earth god associated with the city of Memphis and often depicted in human form with a crown of ram’s horns, two feathers, and a solar disk.               Back to Top     Taweret The Egyptians applied the name Taweret (“The Great One”) to several goddesses worshiped popularly as protectors of human birth and rebirth. Taweret also represented the maternal aspect of major goddesses and protectors of royal and divine figures. Taweret was shown as a pregnant hippopotamus with heavy human breasts, the paws of a lion, and a crocodilian back, holding a hieroglyph that signified protection.               Back to Top       Tefnut Tefnut was the goddess of moisture and heat. She sometimes functioned as the “Eye of Re,” an aspect of the sun god that could be either beneficial or damaging. The least frequently represented of Egypt’s primordial gods, she was shown as either a woman or a lioness.               Back to Top     Thoth (Djehuty) A lunar deity, Thoth had numerous functions, many of them associated with intellectual pursuits such as writing—which the Egyptians believed he invented—and mathematics. His supposed mastery over hieroglyphs and divine words also gave him the status of a great magician. Thoth was often depicted as an ibis or ibis-headed man, but could also take on other forms, such as that of a baboon.               Back to Top     Tutu A protective deity represented as a human-headed sphinx with a snake-headed tail.                     W       Back to Top       Wadjet Wadjet was seen as the protective goddess of Lower Egypt and of the Red Crown of that land. She was often shown as a cobra wearing the Red Crown. See also Nekhbet.